New Country Music Releases 4/8/08
This week in the new releases of country music, hot newcomer and Musik Mafia member James Otto drops his debut album. His single, “Just Got Started Loving You” is sitting steady in the top ten of the country music singles charts and should help his album get a good jump onto the country music album charts as well.
Beyond that, there isn’t a whole lot of new music this week. Tim McGraw and Leann Rimes both have CD singles of some of their songs out this week, and Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson have new compilations hitting the shelves. Let’s not forget Marie Osmond, who is still trying to capitalize off of her “Dancing with the Stars” stint and is releasing a sort of greatest hits collection entitled “Dancing with the Best of Marie Osmond”. Let’s hope that works out for her better than her dancing did!
To see all of the new releases this week, keep reading after the jump.
Alan Jackson’s temporary reign at the top of both the Country Music Singles and Country Music Album charts has come to an end on both fronts. Trace Adkins, the Celebrity Apprentice runner up managed to sneak into the top spot on the Country Music Singles Charts with “You’re Gonna Miss This”. Alan Jackson was also passed yet again by that unstoppable teenager Taylor Swift on the Country Music Album Charts who took over the number one spot yet again. Her latest single “Picture to Burn” is also climbing the Country Music Singles charts, but she’s going to have to overcome some stiff competition in George Strait to make it to the top with that one.
What a gorgeous spring day it was here today. I spent most of the day outside playing with my son and just enjoying the warm weather and fresh air. It made me feel great and count my blessings after a long, hard winter. This song was running through my head all day today as sort of a background soundtrack. I hope you enjoyed your Saturday as much as I did mine!
I have lots of interests, but perhaps the one closest to my heart is developing leadership and service skills in teenagers. That is the main reason I became a high school teacher. I love working with high school kids and hope to teach them some great life skills such as how to give back to their communities. In fact, I’ve been involved for 15 years now with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) program which fosters leadership skills in high school sophomores with an emphasis on community service. I went through the program as a sophomore and have been highly involved ever since because I believe so much in the cause. In fact, I’m currently the Iowa HOBY corporate board president and I’m very proud of our work.
“Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus are set to host the 2008 CMT Music Awards. This year, the CMT MUSIC AWARDS promise to be better than ever with more video categories, more live performances and more of your favorite country stars. Including performances by Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith, as well as Billy Ray and Miley, with more performances to be announced, the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS continues to be the genre’s only fan-voted awards show. Mark your calendars for country music’s star-studded event - April 14 at 8 p.m. ET.” 
“And after the CMT MUSIC AWARDS, catch the premiere of CAN YOU DUET, April 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET. The producers of American Idol have teamed up with CMT to find the next great country music duo in the most original singing competition ever, CAN YOU DUET. In the tradition of powerhouse duos such as Big & Rich, Kenny and Dolly, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Brooks & Dunn, and even Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, CAN YOU DUET is the ultimate singing competition looking to launch an unknown duo into country music superstardom.” 
When oh when are we going to get some great new music on the country music scene? There certainly isn’t any this week! 
Well, despite what Donald Trump had to say on the finale of Celebrity Apprentice, Trace Adkins does NOT have the number one single on the country charts with “You’re Gonna Miss This”. However, he is in second place, but he just couldn’t knock off Alan Jackson this week. Both of them better watch their backs, though, because teen phenom Taylor Swift is heating up the charts with “Picture to Burn”. In fact, she’s so hot, she took back over the top spot on the albums charts and Alan Jackson fell into second.
I was talking the other day with some of my friends, and the topic of Tim McGraw and all of his hits came up. We discussed which were our favorite Tim McGraw songs. I like quite a few, but it came down to “Do You Want Fries With That” and the one I chose for today’s song lyrics.
Did you catch the finale of Celebrity Apprentice last night? It came down to country music star Trace Adkins and British Import Piers Morgan to battle it out for the title of Celebrity Apprentice and the chance for the big money for their charities. Trace knew he’d have trouble beating Piers in the money raising part of the celebrity auction they had to set up for their final challenge. He did, however, sell many more tickets and pulled off keeping the Backstreet Boys happy (even though he couldn’t find their wheat grass juice). All through the live finale, Donald and Ivanka Trump, as well as all the former contestants, gave Trace praise for what a good guy and hard worker he was.
This week, it looks like Johnny Cash is the hardest working man in Nashville - even though he’s no longer living. There are a few of his collections hitting shelves today. Dolly Parton also has a few new compilations out, and Kenny Rogers and Waylon Jennings also have hits collections debuting this week. There are some bluegrass albums from Lost Highway and Ricky Skaggs this week, too. I’m starting to hear rumblings of big artists releasing albums in April and May, so let’s keep on plugging until those get dropped.
Alan Jackson may be a Small Town Southern Man, but he’s living the big life this week. Jackson not only has the number one album in country music, he also holds down the top spot on the country music singles charts, passing up Carrie Underwood. There are lots of great artists on his tail though, including George Strait and Trace Adkins, so he’d better be ready to give up the title. As for the album side of things, he will most likely stay at the top for awhile longer since there hasn’t been any huge new releases in a long time (besides his, of course).
It’s a beautiful day here, but it’s supposed to be pretty messy tomorrow. I’m just glad it looks like the heavy snow is over and we can bring on spring. It’s been a long winter and a little rain won’t be so bad, right? Keith Urban has some good ideas of what to do when it’s Raining on Sunday, so here are the lyrics to his hit song for you.
She’s come a long way from talent shows in Oklahoma. American Idol winner Carrie Underwood has certainly made the most of her opportunity with her six number one singles so far, and now one of her long time dreams is coming true. After performing on the Grand Ole Opry stage this past weekend, Opry member and legend Randy Travis came on stage and invited Carrie to join the Grand Ole Opry. She obviously happily accepted and will be formally inducted after a performance on May 10th.
